Judge refuses to stop demolition of Lowry Avenue Bridge

David Brewster, Star Tribune

The Lowry Avenue Bridge, looking west from near NE. Marshall Street. The photo was taken right before the bridge was deemed unsafe and closed.

A judge denied a motion for a restraining order to stop plans to replace the 104-year-old bridge that spans the Mississippi River.

By PAUL WALSH and RANDY FURST, Star Tribune staff writers

Last update: April 10, 2009 - 11:53 PM

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Minnesota bridges rated: An interactive map of bridges that are "structurally deficient," "functionally obsolete" or have gusset plates like those on the I-35W bridge.

Preliminary work for the demolition and replacement of the Lowry Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis is set to begin Monday after an environmental activist failed to persuade a judge Friday to issue a temporary restraining order to stop the work.

Demolition of the bridge, which spans the Mississippi, is expected to be done by the end of August, with construction of a replacement to start in September.

The bridge, which connects north and northeast Minneapolis, was deemed unsafe and closed in April 2008.

Though he denied a motion for a restraining order by longtime environmental activist Leslie Davis, Hennepin County District Judge John Holahan said he would take under advisement the issues of whether he has jurisdiction and whether to hold a temporary injunction hearing.

Julie Bowman, an assistant county attorney, argued that even a one-week delay would cost $35,000 and could result in further delays, an inability to do the project this year and a loss of federal funding.

She said that Davis wasn't likely to succeed in a court case and should be required to post a $50 million bond because of the potentially huge cost of a delay.

She argued that the 104-year-old bridge is unsafe and that repairing it further would be throwing good money after bad. She said it wasn't designated historic, and no one wants another incident like the 35W bridge collapse.

Davis, who represented himself, countered that demolishing the bridge would be illegal. He said officials should save the old one because it is an integral part of a historic district.

He argued that it could be repaired for $10 million, a large savings for taxpayers.

The court decision clears the way for workers to begin on Monday removing steel from the bridge for recycling and moving additional equipment onto the site. Demolition experts are expected to implode the bridge June 21, pending a permit from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

"Nobody loves that bridge more than I do," Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein said. "I grew up in northeast Minneapolis. The reality of the facts is that it's old and it's built on old pilings."

A new bridge will cost an estimated $80 million, Stenglein said.

So far, the county has gotten $27 million in state bonding money from the Legislature, and the county is contributing $50 million, Stenglein said. The county is applying for federal stimulus funds of up to $60 million, but he expects it will get considerably less. The county has so far received $475,000 in federal funds.

pwalsh@startribune.com • 612-673-4482 rfurst@startribune.com • 612-673-7382

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